1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bowling ball having an internal weight whose position is adjustable by a remote controller for altering the path of the ball after it is released by the player.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The conventional way of using a bowling ball is to roll it over the surface of a bowling alley in a direction best calculated to knock over the bowling pins at the far end of the alley. A player has no control over the path of the ball once it is released.
The path of travel of the ball can initially be controlled to a certain extent by the spin or hook a player imparts to the ball on release. Beyond the release point there is nothing a player can do to correct the path of an errant ball, much as the player would like otherwise.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,901 (Salvino) issued Oct. 22, 1981 the inventor observed that when weight is drilled or otherwise removed from the ball to provide thumb and finger holes, the path of the ball was adversely affected by the resulting change in the center of gravity of the ball. According to the patent, this dynamically unbalanced condition could be corrected by locating a rod along the spin axis of the ball. The consequent increase in weight along that axis was designed to reduce the tendency of the ball to wobble after it was released. The axial position of the rod was adjustable between each use to some position that the player felt would be most likely to establish the best path for the ball as it rolled down the alley. It is likely that precise placement of the rod was not easy to achieve since most players xe2x80x9chookxe2x80x9d a ball to a varying extent during play and this, together with other variables such as the state of the bowling alley surface, would make it difficult to consistently reach a predictable result. In any event, the arrangement did not provide any dynamic control of the ball. The system amounted to a trial and error procedure in which a player was always trying to match his bowling results with various fixed positions of a rod in the ball. It was not possible to control the path of the ball after it was released.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,177 (Skuse) discloses an invention generally similar to the ""901 patent just discussed except that a threaded rod was used. Its axial position was adjusted by rotating it along a threaded bore using a screwdriver inserted into an access opening from the exterior of the ball. However, during play the position of the rod was fixed. Dynamic adjustment was neither taught nor suggested as being desirable.
A somewhat related arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,058,310 (Miettinen), except that he uses mercury to alter the location of the ball""s center of gravity. The mercury is located in one of three elongated chambers that extend radially outwardly from the center of the ball. One or the other of these chambers is filled with the mercury through a three-way valve whose rotated position is changed when a chamber is filled with the desired amount of mercury. The stem of the valve extends outwardly from the center of the ball, and is turned by a key that is inserted through the exterior surface of the ball. The key thus controls which chamber is filled, and to what extent. However, like the other patents discussed above, the position of the valve and other adjustable components are fixed and cannot be changed once the ball has been released for travel down the alley. No dynamic control of the ball path is possible.
A system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,569 (Clark Jr. et al) for remotely and dynamically controlling the location of the center of gravity of a spherical vehicle is disclosed. The mechanism includes an elongated axle which extends diametrically along the spin axis of the sphere. The ends of the axle are fixed within the sphere, and a frame which supports the axle is rotatable about the transverse or spin axis of the sphere. An axle gear is fixed to the axle and engaged by a pinion gear. The pinion gear is rotatable by the drive shaft of a motor that is attached to the frame. As a consequence, rotation of the pinion gear rotates the motor and frame about the axle.
Attached to the frame is the inner end of a radially extending pendulum arm whose outer end carries a mass or weight. The frame includes an integral arcuate gear rack that is engaged by the pinion gear of a servo motor which, like the weight, is mounted to the pendulum arm. Rotation of the servo motor thus causes the arcuate gear segment and weight to rotate to one side or the other of the spin axis along which the axle extends.
The servo motor is operable by a remotely located radio transmitter whereby adjustment of the location of the center of gravity of the mass is done dynamically.
A similar result is achieved by the system of U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,800. (Kobayashi) wherein a center-shaft within the spherical toy extends along the spin axis of the toy. The system is controlled by a remotely located radio transmitter that operates a radio receiver within the toy. This in turn operates a battery in the toy to energize a servo motor. The output or drive shaft of the motor is coupled to a relatively complex connecting structure which is operative to move a direction control means to one side or the other of an axis generally perpendicular to the spin axis of the toy. This adjusts the center of gravity of the toy to thereby dynamically adjust the path the toy follows as it rotates on its spin axis. Although the path of the toy is controlled remotely by a radio transmitter, the structure provided to translate these control signals into a desired relocation of the center of gravity is quite complex and would be expensive and time consuming to manufacture and maintain.
According to the present invention, the path of a bowling ball is dynamically adjusted during its travel down the bowling alley or lane by the straightforward expedient of moving a mass or weight transversely along the spin axis of the ball to precisely locate the center of gravity where necessary to control the path of the ball.
An embodiment is disclosed which does this in a way that lends itself to competition between pairs of partners. The ball path is best controlled if the ball is released for straight ahead rotation essentially about its spin axis without hooking or the like. One partner in each team is responsible for releasing it along the desired straight path utilizing, as will be seen, a special finger hole or holes uniquely arranged according to the invention. As the ball travels down the alley the other partner controls the exact path of the released ball by operating a hand held radio transmitter which is in communication with a radio receiver in the ball. The radio receiver responds to the transmitter control signals to move the weight axially along the spin axis in a direction dictated by the signals.
The present ball path direction control apparatus is easy and relatively inexpensive to manufacture and maintain, and its use permits a sense of cooperation between the partners of a team, as well as competition between different teams.
In one embodiment the ball is formed into its characteristic spherical shape by joining a pair of hollow hemispherical portions. The weight which is movable for adjusting the location of the center of gravity is located within a frame that is mounted within the hollow interior of the ball.
In one embodiment the motor which is operative to move the weight is located within the frame. An externally threaded drive shaft of the motor is oriented along the ball spin axis, and is rotatable to move the weight axially along the spin axis. In another embodiment the motor is located within the ball, but exteriorly of the frame. In the latter arrangement the drive shaft is connected by belts and pulleys to the shaft which supports the weight within the frame.
In both embodiments the weight includes an internally threaded bore which engages external threads on the shaft to which the weight is mounted. The shaft extends along the spin axis, and the weight includes external walls, or is otherwise configured for complemental engagement with the interior walls of the frame space within which the weight is received. The interengaging walls are made flat or otherwise configured so that rotation of the shaft will not rotate the weight. Instead, the exterior walls of the weight are axially slidable upon the interior walls of the frame space so that rotation of the shaft axially moves the weight.
As previously mentioned, the present bowling ball is provided with one or more finger holes located along a centerline or axis parallel to the spin axis of the ball. Each hole is adapted to receive one or two fingers, and extends downwardly into the ball and then forwardly to define a ledge or shelf that can be grasped by the fingers as a form of finger xe2x80x9chandlexe2x80x9d. If desired, the ball can be provided with two or more separate finger holes, each with a ledge or shelf for receiving one or two fingers. The usual thumb hole is preferably eliminated because its presence would mean the thumb and finger holes would have to be precisely arranged for each player. Using finger holes alone makes it possible for a ball to have a xe2x80x9cuniversalxe2x80x9d finger hole arrangement capable of fitting many persons. Any need for precise location of the relative positions of thumb and finger holes is thus completely eliminated. If the player insists upon a thumb hole, the thumb hole is preferably a straight bore with no shelf so the ball can easily drop off the thumb.
Providing a single larger hole for all four fingers rather than the above-described spaced finger holes is less desirable because this would result in the presence of a finger opening or cavity that would be so laterally elongated that the margins of the depressed central portion would engage and xe2x80x9cthumpxe2x80x9d upon each rotation of the ball along the bowling lane.